Mark Webber/2006 Season
Australian |team = WilliamsF1 Team |car No. = 9 |races = 18 |poles = 0 |Wins = 0 |podiums = 0 |fastest laps = 0 |points = 7 |WDC Standing = 14th|helmet = }}The 2006 Formula One season was Mark's fifth season in Formula One. He continued with Williams for a second year. This season he finished 14th with 7 points. Report For the first time in Webber's career the first race of the season was not held in Melbourne, but in Bahrain, due to the original date clashing with the Commonwealth Games. Webber qualified 7th and had a solid race to finish 6th and pick up 3 Championship points. Although Webber was considered by some to have the better race performance, this was generally overlooked when Rosberg set the fastest lap in his debut race and moved up through the field despite a first-lap incident. Webber's two following races in Malaysia and Australia were cut short due to mechanical problems. In Malaysia, Webber started 4th on the grid and was still running in that position before a hydraulics failure ended his race on lap 14. In his home race, Webber qualified seventh and was leading the race before his gearbox failed on lap 22. A sixth-place finish in San Marino saw Webber move up to 9th in the Championship. In the , hydraulics failure struck again ending his race after he had fought his way back to 12th from his 19th place start on the grid due to a mid-weekend engine change. The marked the first time Webber failed to make the top 10 cut-off in the new qualifying system and he struggled during the race finishing ninth. Monaco, however, saw a huge improvement with Webber qualifying on the front row, after Michael Schumacher's grid penalty, holding third for a large part of the race before retiring when his exhaust burned a wiring loom. Webber's car was not as disadvantaged as at most other venues, as aerodynamic efficiency is not as important at Monaco. At the , Webber was taken out on the first lap after an incident with Ralf Schumacher and Scott Speed. In France, Webber suffered a spectacular tyre blowout at maximum speed which he managed to control and return to the pits, parking in the garage. Germany was one of Webber's strongest races of the year where he was on target for a podium finish until mechanical failure stopped him with only 9 laps to go. The was another retirement for Webber as he slid into a barrier in the wet conditions and crushed his front wing under the chassis of the Williams. He finished only 10th in Turkey, where despite running fourth after a first-lap accident, he struggled from then on. After another disappointing qualifying session at the where he qualified 19th, he finished in tenth place. In China, Webber scored Williams' first point since Rosberg's 7th in the European Grand Prix by finishing eighth, after passing the struggling David Coulthard in the closing stages of the race, after qualifying 14th. He qualified in the same position in Japan, but a lack of grip from his Bridgestone tyres saw him crash out of the race after 39 laps. His last race for Williams and the final race of 2006 at the ended in disappointment. After starting 11th, he contrived to collide with his team-mate Rosberg on the first lap and suffered terminal damage to the rear of the car. As a result, Rosberg had a big shunt at the end of the lap. Overall, it was a generally dismal season for Webber, scoring only 7 points to finish 14th overall in the drivers championship. Season Gallery Webber 2006 Imola.jpg|At the San Marino GP Complete Formula One results (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap) Category:2006 Drivers Category:Drivers Category:Driver Reports Category:Williams F1 Drivers